Agriculture, Beverages & Food

The $145 billion punitive damage award against the tobacco industry in the Engle case in Florida should be celebrated as evidence of a civil justice system that works, proof of the value of juries and a major public health achievement. Read More

The European Union is trying to regain the public's confidence in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by strengthening the laws that govern their release onto the market. Read More

ISLAMABAD -- The Pakistani government is inviting foreign business into the country's farms, giving rise to fears that this will finish off millions of small tillers and reduce national food supply. Read More

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Brazilian Consumers Defence Institute (IDEC) asked the courts to issue arrest warrants for the members of a government scientific commission that gave the go-ahead to imports of transgenic corn, on the argument that the decision was released in violation of the law. Read More

Nearly everyone debating the mapping of the human genome now agrees on one thing: that the identification of our genes invokes an unprecedented danger, as it might assist a handful of companies to seize something which belongs to all of us. I wish this were true. Read More

Saskatchewan, Canada -- On the Great Plains of Canada, farmer Percy Schmeiser has engaged in a David v. Goliath battle which could save farmers and consumers around the world from a genetically modified food nightmare beyond anything they have experienced so far. Read More

SAN RAMON, CA -- About a dozen demonstrators dressed in mock biohazard suits dump food products from Safeway supermarket shelves into a plastic bin in front of the Marriott Hotel in this quiet suburban town East of San Francisco. Read More

The following quotes outline some of the basic differences between supporters and critics of genetically engineered food. We counter pose view points from industry and activists on environmental, health and political issues surrounding biotech agriculture. We'll let you decide who's right. Read More

Farmers, who have maintained the consumer's trust by producing safe, reasonably priced and nutritious food, now fear losing that trust as a result of consumer rejection of genetically engineered foods. Here is a statement from the National Family Farm Coalition on genetic engineering. Read More

Despite fears of violence in the streets, an estimated 2,500 chanting, costumed demonstrators kept their promise to march peacefully through the Back Bay yesterday as they voiced their opposition to the spread of biotechnology. Read More